New Horizons
by AnnabethRide
Summary: Potami and Jax had been in school all their lives, but then their boring lives at the academy is shaken to the ground and it was time to go to Camp Half-Blood and be claimed by their godly parents. There is a new threat on the horizon and a new great prophecy. With the help from possibly the two best teachers around, are they up to the challenge?
1. Chapter 1

**Jax:**

My story starts-

You mean _our _story?

_My_ story technically starts before I even met you…

Yea but it didn't _really_ start till I came into your life.

Whatever. They said we have to take turns, and it's _my _turn now. So sit there and try and be quiet little lady. Anyway...Where was I? Oh yea, My story starts with a really strange dream I had, oh, my name's Jax, Jax Anemoi. (That's pronounced Ann-ee-mos don't ask me it's Greek or something. The gods know _I_ didn't want it to be that complicated.) I'm nineteen years old and I was a senior at Demigood academy. I should probably also mention that I'm a Half-blood, the son of a god, or Olympian, or whatever. Before you say "Oh man, that must be so cool." Believe me it's not. There's loads of danger, way too many near death moments, you'll only make friends by not dying together, and if you're thinking of having a normal, easy love life, forget it cuz it's _not_ going to happen.

I'm getting ahead of myself though. My graduation was only a few weeks away. That's when everything went crazy, but again, it all started with this dream I had. In my dream I'm in the sky, really high, in the clouds kinda high. It would be cool, if wasn't storming so bad that I can barely see in front of me. Lighting zipped past me. Like, _right_ past me. I could feel the electricity make the hair on my arms stand on end and the heat made me start to sweat. I began to wonder why I wasn't, you know, dead. I didn't get a chance to finish my thought though because in a split second I wasn't floating anymore and I started falling like a sack of bricks.

I came through the clouds screaming, (I may or may not have sounded like a little girl.) I saw the sea, nothing but water under me. A storm was raging, torrents of rain and two more bolts of lightning whizzed past me. I was too busy panicking to notice though, My arms were flailing and the high pitched screaming was still coming from my mouth. I hit the water face first, and a split second later I was for the second time completely shocked I hadn't died.

The water was cold and dark, I couldn't hear anything except the sound of my own breathing. My brain started to question the fact that I was breathing underwater, but I was interrupted again. A huge dark shape was swimming up from the depths, though, I think the word slithering would be a better fit. The snake like silhouette swam closer and I realized "huge" was a complete understatement, I think "massive" or "gigantic" would be better. It was hard to tell, but it looked like it was as long as a skyscraper is tall, and as thick as a battleship.

Just the sight of it terrified me. I screamed again, I don't know what it sounded like underwater but it probably still sounded like a schoolgirl at the release of the latest One Direction album. I tried to swim up towards the surface but I couldn't, like an invisible force was keeping me right where I was. Then I realized with horror that not only was it swimming up to me, but that invisible force was pushing me down to it. I swam harder but all of the strength I exerted was in vain. Another snake came out of nowhere, this one only about as long as me. It wrapped itself around my ankles and started working it's way up. Panic set in and I was flailing my arms again trying to get closer to the surface. The smaller snake made it all the way to my collar and started to squeeze, really tight. My breath was squeezed out of my lungs and I started to crush like an empty soda can. I heard a loud deep throated chuckle, like the stereotypical one you hear from bad guys in cartoons, but this one was _way_ more scary. I realized it was coming from the creature under me, the massive snake was very close now. My vision blurred and I saw it open it's gaping mouth to eat me whole.

**Potami:**

You thought normal high school was bad? Try a boarding school that splits up boys from the girls and there is no mingling between the two and all the girls you're around are _that_ kind of girl. You know the kind I'm talking about. The ones that talk about shoes and shopping and boys and all that stuff that makes me gag. Oh, sorry, I got off on a tangent, I really shouldn't do that with something this important...

Anyway, the names Potami Reid (pronounced "pot-a'-mee" "reed") and I'm seventeen years old, also a halfblood. Being the child of a god has some perks, but it mostly comes with doom, destruction, danger, and allot of other happy words that start with "d". Just a big helping of "d" words served on a silver platter. It's terrible really. Everything was all fine and dandy... Until Junior year, that's when things got, what's a good word for it? Weird? No, no... crazy? No... So overly ridiculous, bizarre, and illogical that you want to pull your hair out? Yeah, that seems to fit.

It really kicked off after a math exam. The normal school day was over so I changed out of my stupid skirt of a uniform and went to the PE area to relax for once. I walked by the pond that was there, (why a pond was in an area for sports I have no clue) and looked at all the fish swimming around. After watching them for a few minutes, I got up and started for the pool. Normally, I would have avoided a place like that with all the gossipy girls giggling and guffawing, but today was different. I was let out early for finishing my exam about 45 minutes before the end of school and took the chance wholeheartedly. A pool all by myself with no one around was bliss. No noise, no smell of overly expensive tan lotion, just the smell of chlorine. Taking off my shirt and pants I jumped into the pool with the bathing suit I was wearing underneath clinging to my skin. Then I realized I had forgot to se a timer.

_Crap. _I thought, _how am I gonna time myself...?_

I quickly surfaced and dug out my phone out of my pants on the edge to start a timer. I hit the green button and sank myself to the bottom of the pool to try and break my record. You see, I've always had good lungs and I've always wanted to try for the record of the longest breath held underwater. I had been practicing this for years in hope to get past that 16:34 minute mark. My best at that time was about 6:21. If I hadn't trained myself, I would have been dead long ago. It's amazing what the human body could acclimate to.

I sat comfortably at the bottom of the 6 ft deep pool my legs crossed letting my mind unwind from that doozy of a math exam. I loved being able to get away from the stress of school even though I could never leave until I graduated and I couldn't care less about everyone else. I wasn't friends with anyone and that was fine by me. Anyone I could possibly make friends with had their cliques and were not my type of people anyway...

Although I could have stayed under longer, I surfaced. I stopped my timer, "6:23…. Dang it…"

**Jax:**

I woke up still thinking I was underwater, but it was really me drenched in my own sweat.

"Pheew….Some dream…" was all I could manage to say.

I was breathing hard and my mind was racing. I tried to convince myself it was just a dream, maybe those hot pockets I had snuck in and ate right before bed, but it was so real, I had never experienced anything close to that in my whole life.

"Great!" I looked at my clock and lept out of bed, throwing the sheets off me. "I'm gonna be late. Again."

I throw off my pajamas and tried my best to quick change into my uniform, which probably looked more like a very awkward flamingo dance. I was having trouble with my stupid button down collared shirt and had to restart twice because I was going too fast. I rush out of my room still buttoning when I see my friend Troy standing in the hall waiting for me.

Troy was shorter than me by about five inches and a good bit stockier, with wide shoulders and an even wider smile. His sandy blonde hair sat in wavy locks on his head. He had bright blue eyes that seemed to switch randomly from looking like a happy go lucky guy on the front of a Hollister add to looking like he's gonna beat you to a pulp and stuff you in a locker. He was nice to me though, for some reason, and being perfectly honest, he was my only friend in the whole academy.

Demigood academy was more like two academies separated by a huge wall, one was for the girls and the other for the guys. The two groups only got together once a year for a "dance." I went to one once, and let's just say, I only went once. All the girls looked like they were cut from the same mold, perfect makeup, color coordinated blouses and miniskirts, big flirty eyes, and they only seemed to gossip amongst themselves about which guys were the cutest. Two words: Bor-ing. I've never been much of a ladies man anyway, so I doubt I was ever a topic in their gossip.

As bad as the females were, they weren't much better than all the other guys on this side. They're all big, jock guys, cut like three pound slabs of steak. They only seem to talk about sports and working out, double boring with a side of please-make-them-shut-up. They were a perfect match for the boring girls and they would all have boring babies together. I was always afraid I'd get bullied by them my first year here, but they never seemed to even register my existence, which was perfectly fine by me. Troy was the only one that ever talked to me, we found that we shared a lot of interests and became fast friends. I was happy about being left alone by everyone, but I was also happy I had Troy.

"What took you so long?" Troy said teasingly as he gave me one of his wide smiles.

"Slept in." Was my only reply as we both started walking down the hall.

"Uh huh, and perhaps some trouble dressing yourself?"

"I think I can dress myself just fine. I've had enough practice." I button my top button as I finish my sentence.

"Well, I hate to tell you, but your buttons are still wrong." I could tell from his voice he was stifling laughter.

"GAH!" I look down and see he's right, then yank my shirt to unbutton it and start over, slowly and carefully this time.

"You could leave it open, go for the douchebag look." His voice was still teasing and he chuckled.

"Then I'll get in a lot of trouble for breaking dress code, otherwise I wouldn't be wearing this stupid thing to begin with." I finally get the buttons right.

"Yea, but at least you'd be getting in trouble looking like a pimp." He smiled wider and showed his teeth and that made me smile.

The rest of the day didn't go very well, I was never the best at any of my classes, my dyslexia and ADHD made sure of that. I had learned to put up with it though and I've still made passing grades most of my time here, barely passing anyway. My last class was english, and they were going to be talking about a story I had already read twice. My head was still swimming with thoughts about my dream and I couldn't stand to listen to one more teacher drone on, besides, I knew this story wouldn't be on a test. I slipped in the bathroom and waited till after the last period started, then I crept through the halls and out into the courtyard in the back of the school.

In the past few years I had learned of a surefire way to clear my head. I stretched my legs a bit then bolted through the grass towards a bench. I stepped up on the bench, not breaking stride, then using my forward and upward momentum, I vaulted up and grabbed the edge of a metal awning. I had started freerunning, or parkour as it's called, a little more than a year ago. Because honestly, there was nothing better to do at this school in my free time. It took me a while and a good bit of falling on my face to get the hang of it, but once I had I was in love. The feeling of soaring through the air at top speed, then nailing the landing and using your momentum to go even faster into an even higher jump. It felt…..empowering. I ran down the length of the awning and did a flip off it, landing into a tuck and roll and bolting towards the next thing I could jump on or over. I did a straight jump over two trash cans that were next to each other, then vaulted over a railing for some stairs and over the whole set of stairs.

I landed in another roll and turned, running towards the main building. There were Greek style pillars holding up an awning over the walkway that went all around the building. I decided to try something I've never done before, even though it was really dumb. I ran at an angle to one of the pillars and I jumped at it. I put my feet and hands up and pushed up and off it towards the pillar next to it. I was sure I hadn't gotten enough height and I would just faceplant into the pillar, but I managed to just barely reach up and grab the lip at the top of the pillar. I tightened my fingers around it and took a breath.

"Well that went allot more smoothly than I thought it was going to." I let my breath out slowly and took another breath in. "What now?" I look around me and notice the dividing wall between our courtyard, and what I assumed is the courtyard on the girls side. Another crazy thought enters my head, that wall was at least as tall as the pillar I was hanging onto, and about ten feet away. It was a crazy jump that I had very little chance of making, but it would be cool to just sit on a wall that no one can possibly climb. I slowly and carefully pulled myself up onto the lip of the pillar and after some work, I was standing very cautiously on a tiny ledge at least twelve feet up.

The ledge was just barely big enough for my both my feet to be on it. I didn't dare look down because, well, you're not supposed to. I just kept my eyes focused on the wall. I had no momentum going for me so I had to create as much as possible, I started swinging my arms back and forth and I bent my legs. I counted down in my head

_Three. Two. ONE. _

I bent my legs all the way and jumped as my arms swung forward. I thought as soon as my feet left the ledge that I wasn't going to make it to the wall, I didn't have enough distance. I sailed through the air for a bit, feeling nothing but the wind in my face and gravity pulling me down. Suddenly, I noticed I had covered more space than I thought, I was really close to the wall at this point. Everything started going in slow motion, I reached up with one hand and used my other arm to block my face from hitting the wall. My fingertips just managed to grab the rough stone surface on top of the wall. I shot my other arm up to grab too so I wouldn't lose my grip. I felt the muscles in my forearms tighten as I gripped the wall and started to heave myself slowly up. I pulled myself up and rolled onto the top, thankful that the wall was just as wide as I was. I breathed heavily and smiled. "That was crazy." I roll over and look at the pillar I had jumped from, "How on earth did I just do that?"

I roll back onto my back and let out a deep breath, pleased with the feat I had just performed. I roll the other way and look at the girls courtyard. I leaned up and sit with my legs hanging off the edge and study this forbidden land. I was mildly disappointed because it was just a mirror image of our courtyard. I don't know what I was hoping to see, flowers, maybe a pink wall but all I got was more of the same. It was empty, just like ours, because last period was still going on. Then suddenly, I saw a girl walk through one of the doors out into the courtyard. I started to turn around so I could jump off before she saw me, but she turned and went down the courtyard and didn't notice me. I got a good side profile look at her. She was…different. She had a pretty face, with prominent cheek bones and thin, red lips. She looked slightly above average height but shorter than me. She was wearing jeans and a t-shirt that hugged her slim profile slightly. Her hair was golden blonde and pulled back into a ponytail that had one curl at the end of it, like she had just bothered to put that one part of her hair in a curler. I noticed that she didn't wear any makeup and that her clothes weren't fancy or designer brand. Her eyes were bright green, like emeralds and they looked soft, yet sharp, like they didn't miss a detail.

The blonde girl strode down the courtyard as I studied her. It felt weird, observing a creature that I had been forbidden to most of my life, and actually _wanting_ to do it. She walked to one of the little ponds and bent down to look at it. My heart was racing because I expected any moment she was going to look up and see me, I didn't want to stop watching her though. She got up and strode to the outdoor pool that we had on our side as well then paused and looked at the water before she started to take her shirt off. I looked away instinctively, but managed to notice that she still had a bathing suit on under her clothes. I didn't care, this was getting awkward fast, especially if she looked back and noticed me. Most guys here would have jumped at the chance to watch a girl strip down to a swimsuit and jump in a pool, and I will admit it was tempting, but I just jumped off the wall back on our side before she was even done. I heard a soft splash and looked back at the wall.

_Why _do_ they separate us? _I wondered for the first time in my life.


	2. Chapter 2

**Potami: **

"Well that was a bust if I ever saw one..." I grumbled.

Only two seconds better than my previous time was abysmal. It would take years before I could get good at this rate. I gave up for the day and got out of the pool. Grabbing a near by towel, I dried off and put back on my clothes. Pulling out my phone, I saw the time, "Twenty minutes. So that means twenty minutes to get to my room and hide from the weird people." I picked up the pace as I walked inside and headed for the stairwell. "Oh, new posters..." I thought aloud, but I didn't give them more than a glance. My dyslexia wouldn't have let me read it anyway.

I started to hum a song I knew as the staircases continued to ascend to fill the silence. My thoughts began to wander however, _I wish I could have stayed longer... But then it would have been too crowded and I wouldn't be able to think like this. Uhg I can't stand these posters clogging up the halls. ASB is just a popularity contest anyway._ My footsteps echoed off the walls as I finally reached the top of the 3rd floor, "Why couldn't have my room been on the first floor?" My gripes didn't last long because I reached my room and went in.

It was a simple room. A bed up against the far corner and wall, a desk adjacent from that, a bookcase on the opposite corner, and a closet near the door. The walls were blue and the carpet was a sandy color. I walked over to my bed and I flopped down onto it hoping to get a nap after a long day. My ADHD would have none of it and I just ended up pacing back and forth from one end to the other until I WAS tired enough to go to sleep. I passed out on my bed and woke up a few hours later.

When my eyes finally opened again I realized there was no light coming in from the window facing the courtyard. Glancing at the clock I saw it was 11:47. "O-k so it's way past curfew." I muttered under my breath. I did what any sensible teenager would do, I closed my eyes and tried to go back to sleep. That didn't work. It was as if I had just drank a coffee jacked up with sugar, caffeine, and more sugar. Sleep was not an option. _Hm..._ My brain thought. _I could sneak out. It's not like I'm going to a party or anything._ I knew exactly what to do. It was time for a late night dip, but not skinny dipping, that's gross. I opened my door, locked it behind me, and made my way for the stairwell. Kicking off my shoes at my dorm had helped a lot. The descent was over in the matter of minutes.

_Okie dokie then. The door I normally use will be locked so the only way out at this point is the window._ I crept my way over to the window and pushed it open. One leg through, then the other, and I was outside! Past curfew!

To my luck there was no one else who boarded the rebel train along with me. The shirt and pants went off once again and I slowly let myself into the pool. The water felt cool and calm against my skin as I began to swim laps. The way it brushed past me when propelling myself forward was such a sensation that left me feeling great.

After I swam a few laps, I floated my way to the middle the pool and stayed floating on my back. With my arms behind my head, I looked up at the sky. It was beautiful as it always was and I could actually see stars unlike in the city. I did my darndest to remember the constellations I had learned in astronomy. A lot of them were based on stuff in the Greek mythology. I found the Big and Little Dipper, Orion's belt among others. It was so cool to just stare up at the stars on a clear night. Just something about it. My eyes wandered over to the wall. I sighed and let out a chuckle, "Probably just jocks the girls here fawn over everyday. Lord knows_ those_ people are greeeeeaaaaat."

I floated around some more as the night air brushed past my skin. Although it must have been in the 50s it didn't bother me at all. In fact, I got out and started to stroll around the courtyard. It felt odd to feel the grass and asfault under my feet for once. Heaven forbid that I walk barefoot around the area. It was a nice change though. The entire yard was very different at night. There were no lights to speak of, only the rays of the moon to light my path, though I didn't need it. I didn't have night vision or anything, I just knew the place really well.

"It's so pretty at night... I don't know why I didn't do this years ago." I awed at the trees and how the light fell on everything. It was much better than the day time. Crickets could be heard as well as other nighttime critters that went about their business. My path lead me past the pond and to the pool once again where I picked up my clothes and started to head back.

But something caught my eye. I looked up at the wall to see a silhouette of a head. _Oh crap!_ My heart started a 100 meter dash while my stomach did a triple somersault in the air. I sprinted for the window and fumbled my way in. It slammed shut most likely waking everyone in the building, but I didn't care about that at the moment, I was freaking the flip out. I ran up the stairs skipping every other step until I came to the top.

I dropped my key as I struggled to open the door. Finally doing so, I coaxed the door shut, put on some pajamas over my bathing suit and forced myself under the sheets, shutting my eyes in fear a security patrol should come by and check.

It felt like hours before I even fell back asleep.

**Jax: **

I went back to my dorm later and tried to do my homework, emphasis on tried. It was normally hard enough with the reading problems and the fact I have the attention span of a seagull, but on top of that my dream was still bugging me. I managed to get a chunk of math done before I said screw it and started playing video games. That was another thing that always helped me get my mind off stuff, it got me off the acadamy, away from the boring girls and jockey guys, and let me get sucked into a totally different world. One that I wound up getting frustrated at after a bit.

I picked up my cell phone and called Troy. "Yo, what's up?" I said before he could say hello.

"Absolutely nothing, what do you need?" Troy's tone was light as usual.

"I can't get past this stupid boss. How do you kill a Hydra?"

Troy sighed like that was a stupid question, "Use fire, that's what Hercules did…" He spouted it off like he just finished studying all this for a test, "and whatever you do don't cut off it's heads."

"Well it's a little too late for that bro…"

"You may as well start over then, because each head you cut off two grow back and it just makes it harder." He said this casually, like he'd done it before, hundreds of times.

"Yea." I grunt and growl for my character on the screen, "I noticed." Troy had always had a weird amount of knowledge for anything from mythology, I never questioned it though when it came in handy.

"If you want me to I can come over and help." He sounded legitimately concerned, like it was actually _me_ fighting the Hydra.

"Nah I got it." My tone was short. "I'm just having some me time right now…"

"Ah I see." His voice got softer.

There was a pause as I focused hard on slaying the virtual Hydra, all that could be heard was the clicking of my controler. My thoughts start to wander and I wound up speaking without thinking, "Hey Troy?" my voice was soft and serious.

"Yea?" His voice trailed off on a concerned note.

"Have you ever had…...Any really weird dreams? Not weird like bizarre, but weird like freaky, and like, really realistic?" I pause the game and hear nothing but silence from the other side. The silence hung in the air; and I finally say, "Troy?..."

"Oh, um….no" He sounded like he had just been hit on the head and that the world around him was still spinning. "I can't say that I have…..Why do you ask?"

"No reason." My tone was soft and quick. "Just curious." I was eager to change the subject so I said the first thing that popped into my head, which turned out to be a very bad idea. "I saw a girl today…."

"What?! How?! When?! Where?!" Troy spouted these off like they were all one word.

I slapped my palm into my face, there I go speaking without thinking again, "Oh, I didn't mean that. I kinda dropped last period, then I managed to jump up on the wall in the courtyard and I looked into their courtyard and this one girl showed up and went to the pool then took her clothes off-"

"WHAT?!" Troy was almost screaming into the phone.

"I didn't mean it that-"

"Please tell me you got pictures…." His tone changed to his half joking half serious one.

"No! I turned my head and got the heck out of there fast. What if she saw me? And she was wearing a swimsuit under her clothes. Geez."

"How do you know she was wearing a swimsuit if you looked away?..." Troys tone turned all serious and a bit cocky.

"I…..She…..Uhg." I was at a complete loss for words. I didn't even know exactly what happened.

"Wait…..How did you get up on the wall?" Troys tone transformed to a very puzzled one.

The question caught me off guard but I was happy for the focus to shift from the girl. "I…..Jumped….From one of the pillars."

"You just_ jumped_?" Troy's tone now had a pinch of shock mixed in with the puzzlement.

"Yea, you know, like Mario….." I had been shocked myself that I made that jump, but it seemed easy at the time I did it.

"You'd really have to jump like him to make that…" Troy's voice trailed off. "What did she look like?" He said this like it was important, like a police officer asking me to describe a suspect.

The topic had just jumped again and I was really confused, but I answered his question, leaving out the part about her face being pretty, I just gave the details. There was nothing but silence again. "What about it? Do you know who she is?" My tone got slightly excited and it surprised me.

"Oh...no." There he went again sounding like he was in a trance, "It's nothing."

"Funny, it doesn't sound like nothing..." My tone turns quizzical, I wasn't liking how confusing this was.

"Anyway bro, I've gotta go…" He totally ignored my last statement, "Got some things I need to take care of… Good luck with the Hydra."

"Wait-" He hangs up and I just sit there with my phone to my ear. "Well that was weird…" I slap my phone back on my desk.

I finally managed to beat the Hydra, but then I called it a night and slip in bed. I tried in vain to fall asleep, but my mind was already racing about my dream, and then added with Troy acting so strange, let's just say I counted at least 436 sheep and it still didn't work. I laid in bed for what seemed like ages, I finally took a look at my clock, 11:16. It was past curfew, but I wasn't about to get any sleep anytime soon and I needed to clear my head. I'd never snuck out past curfew before, but I also had never had trouble sleeping, or dreams about giant underwater snakes, or watched a girl take her clothes off. I shook my head as I stood up out of bed. Some moments it was harder to get that blondy out of my head than the dream. What was so special about her?

I crept down the halls then walked noiselessly down the main hallway, looking at the lockers and the classroom doors. The place seemed, odd, without all the jock guys milling about, it felt cold and lifeless. I didn't ponder on it much though because I got to the double doors and opened them, well tried to open them.

_ Locked! Well this is going smoothly… _

_Well_ someone _obviously didn't think things through… _

I often talked to myself in my head, it helps me think clearer to have dialogue rather than monologue. Sometimes a third voice showed up and get really crazy. (I'm not insane, I just get bored sometimes ok.) My mind always worked fast, but with the ADHD and all, it was just hard to keep it on track.

_It's not the end of the world, I'll just find another way._

_And what might that be?_

_Maybe a window is open?_

_Ha! You'd think they'd be stupid enough to leave a window unlocked? Why don't you wake one of the teachers and ask them to just let you out, that sounds like a better idea. _

_You never know….Just shut up so I can look._ My sarcasm was starting to get on my nerves.

I went into the closest classroom because it had windows that looked out into the courtyard. I tried the closest one and it slid open.

_Ha! Suck it! I told you so. _

I had nothing to say in reply as I climbed through the window one leg at a time. The courtyard was just as quiet and lifeless as the inside of the building, but the soft moonlight glimmered on the grass, making it less dark and spooky. I ran and jumped off the raised walkway and started my parkour night session, nightkour as I have just dubbed it. It felt good to get my blood pumping and feel my leg muscles working, even though it was so late. Despite there being only a certain number of things to jump on or over, it never got old as long as I mixed up the order.

I paused while perched on top of the awning and looked at the wall again. I'd never given it much thought at all, but now I really disliked it, and I wanted to try and get on top of it again. Not many people understand, but as soon as you start free running you see things differently. A bench isn't something to sit on its somthing to jump over, a rail isn't something to hold on to it's something to vault over, and a wall isn't a barrier that keeps you safe, it's a obstacle worth climbing over.

This awning was closer to the wall than the pillar was, though not nearly as high. I'd have to get as much upward momentum as possible. I walked all the way to the back of the awning and planted my feet, took a deep breath, then sprinted as fast as I could down the short length of the metal platform. I let my feet get right to the edge then I bent my legs all the way and lept at the wall. I didn't have nearly enough height, I'd only make it three fourths up the wall at best. I wanted to get on top of it though, I had done it before, I couldn't let this dividing structure get the best of me. I was suddenly allot higher than I thought, my hands touched the top of the wall and the feeling surprised me.

I gripped the rough stone surface but I found it hard to hold on for some reason, like it was suddenly a lot more slippery than it should have been.

_It must be the dew fell on it and got it wet…._

I gripped harder and started to slowly pull myself up. I managed to peak my head over the wall and my eyes got big in surprise. I saw the same courtyard again, lit dimly by the glow of the moon, but in the middle I saw a silhouette of a girl. She was thin and above average height with her hair pulled back into a ponytail that had a curl at the end.

_Blondy!_ I thought. _No way…._

_Why don't you go ask her name? _

_Shut up, the last thing I need is you right now- _

My argument with myself was interrupted because the girls face turned and looked right towards me. My heart would have lept into my throat if my stomach wasn't already occupying that area, so it decided to do it's own little parkour session in my rib cage. The dark shape froze and so did I, then it bolted for the door and I didn't hesitate to drop down and do the same. I dashed to the building, dove through the window not bothering to close it, then made record time back to my dorm room. I closed my door and leaned against the door panting like a dog.

"Well…..I guess stalking a girl in the middle of the night could have been worse..."

I hobbled over to my bed and plopped down. I was so tired I fell asleep instantly, and luckily I wasn't bothered by any dreams.


	3. Chapter 3

Potami:

To put it mildly, I woke up in a cold sweat.

_That late night swim was NOT worth it…. nearly scared me right out of my skin…._

Realizing that I was still in my bathing suit from last night, I immediately changed into something else. Simple jean shorts, my long blue socks that went over my knees, and a simple white t shirt. I was grateful that today was a Saturday. And what did I do on Saturdays? Well, besides homework and playing video games all day cooped up in my room, I went to go talk to my history teacher Mr. Brunner. It'd be weird to call him a friend, he was more of a councillor that I could really get along with.

I quickened my pace to his room on the third floor, (why they'd make a guy in a wheelchair have a room on the third story made NO sense to me whatsoever) wanting to avoid the soon to be cluttered halls of gossip and beauty tips and boy talk. I smiled as I arrived at his room and opened the door. He was there at his desk at precisely the time we always met. His beard was scruffy and brown and he wore his usual coat with an orange tie and a nice white shirt formal attire for classes even though he had no need to on a Saturday.

"Ah Miss Reid, on time again as usual." he smiled.

"Of course, I'd never be late for our usual plans." I smiled back.

"So how has your week been?" He started with the basics. We'd always discuss our weeks and then we could get into the fun part of our weekly discussion; if a goal chart didn't have to be made for me that is. Mr. Brunner always was concerned for my grades and always was my motivator to do well, and he was so approachable that I could ask him anything without being intimidated.

"Oh it was fine," I continued, "I had a math test yesterday and an english quiz before that, and they were really difficult in some places, but as always I finished my math test early and I went for a swim without it being crowded." I had deliberately left out the part about the late night swim of scary stalkerness, but I should have known better than to try and hide something like that from someone like Mr Brunner.

"Are you sure that's all that happened?" He raised an eyebrow. That was it. I was doomed. He read me like a pop up book. There was no getting past it.

I sighed, " Actually, last night… I took a nap and woke up really late and decided to go for a midnight swim, but after hanging around for awhile, I glanced up at the wall and I saw someone there. I was scared out of my skin as I raced back to my dorm and tried to go back to sleep and I eventually did, leading up to our meeting, right now…" I felt my cheeks get warm with embarrassment. Nothing worse than admitting to your favorite teacher you screwed up bad, and on purpose no less.

His expression did not change on his face, but I saw a glimpse of worry in his eyes that quickly disappeared, " And you snuck out because you couldn't sleep?"

"Yes sir, I felt it was the only way to get rid of my sudden alertness. It just felt right to go outside in the open air."

"Did you get a good look at this person's face?" Mr Brunner now had his hands interlocked and by his mouth.

I shook my head, "No sir I didn't. Their face was just a silhouette when I turned and bolted out of there." My body was doing its own thing at this point. my weight was shifting from foot to foot and I was fiddling with my hands. It was a bad day to be a kid with ADHD.

"Hm… I see. I'm sorry Potami, but I'm afraid I'll have to cut our time short today. Now would you please get the door for me? I have somethings to take care of ." His voice was firm.

"Oh! Of course sir." I went and opened the door for him and I left back for my dorm, knowing that I was going to get in trouble for what I did at some point this week.

Walking back to my dorm and tuning everyone out, I brought out my Nintendo 64 and started to play The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, "Alright, let's take my mind off of this grief with a game about the five stages of grief."

I gave up after a while as the depressing atmosphere was not helping my mood and I went to actually doing my homework of all things, but my mind was still on what happened. I had disappointed my favorite teacher, and it bugged me more than it should have.

The next few hours went a little something like this: pacing back and forth, attempting to pick up a controller and play a game, staring up at the ceiling while laying down on my bed.., but it came down to later in the evening when the girls would be outside partying or something and the school would be empty. I left my dorm and I went to walk around the school. Exploring large buildings had always been one of my pastimes as a kid, aside from the holding my breath underwater thing. Whenever my mom and I went to a hotel or a museum or even a friend's large house, I'd be the first to explore every nook and cranny.

At this particular moment, I started from the top floor and worked my way down. Anyone else might have been bored at the thought of looking at the identical looking hallways, but I like looking at all the tiny differences that made each floor unique. I had to let out a chuckle when I passed by the dorms though. Noises of squeaking and rushing around to get ready for some party was just ridiculous.

By the time I had gotten to the first floor, everyone what already outside listening to the newest "white boy playing guitar" song mixed in with songs by Bruno Mars, One Direction, and Skrillex. I ignored their taste in music to further my adventure of exploration.

After getting to the end of the hallway I came across a door I hadn't seen before. I peaked through the little window to see it went to a room with an identical door on the other side.

"This must be the way to the other side of the school..."

_You know, I could go explore the other side..._

"Nope nope nope nope. Not gonna do it, not gonna go there. I've already disappointed Mr Brunner once, I don't need to do it again. Plus, I don't need to get in trouble any more than I will be." I turned on my heel and went back to the stairwell to go up to my room. That was enough exploring for one day.

But getting back to my room didn't help me much. There was still something bugging me. I couldn't figure out what though. Just something bad was nagging at me like a little kid tugging at their mothers skirt because they wanted the cool new toy on the shelf. Why did this feeling exist? I attempted to try and trace where it could have come from. There were lots of options, my sneaking out, that guy on the wall, and then Mr Brunner. He'd acted weird then left without explaining much. Something about that bugged me. I couldn't dwell on it though. Well, I tried but it failed. I needed something to distract me.

I looked around the room and saw that from my actions from before had left my room messy. It wasn't playing video games, but it was something. I packed up all my things and immediately felt better. It didn't even take long considering I didn't have too much in the first place. Just a gaming system or two and a few sets of clothes along with the basic toiletries. That made it very easy.

Cleaning made my stress levels decrease by at least 70 percent.

After the strange cleaning distraction, I observed out my window the girls partying and listening to music I wouldn't be caught dead with. They were in little groups either by or in the pool. For some reason they had lights. Not just any lights mind you, the lights you find in the club that change color and can even go strobe. How they managed to get that, I have no idea.

Unfortunately this ended up being boring as well. I'm not saying you need to be entertained 24/7, I just needed to take my mind off of all these past events.

"I almost wish that I got a good look at the guy's face, then if I ever saw him again I'd yell at him. I can't stand a peeping Tom. God, why am I talking aloud to myself?" I flopped on my bed and started at the ceiling. I grabbed my clock and saw it was 9:30.

"I might as well try and make up for lost sleep." I shrugged and changed into my PE shorts and slowly drifted to sleep as dub step pounded against my window.

Jax:

I woke up really late, but I was relieved when I realized it didn't matter because it was Saturday. Troy and I always hung out on Saturdays but I knew I wouldn't be late, because he slept later than this on the weekends. I jumped out of bed and realized I was still in my clothes, as my brain started to wonder why this was all the memories of last night started to flood back and I flinched as if they actually hurt. My mind started racing.

_Was it really her? Can you accidentally stalk someone?….UHG! She's just a girl, get out of my head._

I managed to succeed in not thinking about her, but then my dream the from night before last popped up in my thoughts like a bad song you thought you had successfully gotten out of your head.

"GEEZ!" My stress level was getting high and nothing I had tried was wiping this stuff from my brain, most of it made it worse, like last night…

"NO! Not thinking about her or that stupid dream!"

_I bet all the guys around you are having fun listening to the crazy kid yelling at himself in his dorm._

_Well what should I do then?_

_That dream was just a dream, but as for that girl, maybe if you find some answers it'll ease your brain some. Look her up in the school records or something._

Even though I was a jerk sometimes, I can pretty pretty smart.

_Great, then I can be an internet and real life stalker._

_At least it's harder to get seen online._

_Oh shut up._ There I went being a jerk again. I didn't want to be a stalker, but once the idea was in my head, I couldn't resist. I turned on my computer and googled Demigood Academy...There was nothing, no results.

"Well, if google doesn't even know where I am then I must be screwed…"

It was the strangest thing, google knew everything, if Demigood didn't even have a website then what kind of school is it? I went to google maps and said to show my location, Maine, ok that's where the school was. I zoomed in all the way and saw were Demigood Academy should be, there was nothing but an open field.

This wasn't right at all, Demigood apparently didn't exist, like at all, or we were under a cloaking device that hid us from satellite view. Why would that be though? No logical explanation I thought of had any good reason behind it. I groaned, this also left me no closer to any answers about the blonde girl. I couldn't just google "cute blonde" now could I? She probably didn't exist either, just like this school, and just like my sanity.

_You've reached a new low here Jax. Imagining cute blondes that don't exist._

_Shut up. None of this is right….UHG! I look for answers and only find more questions._

_I was only trying to help…_

_Well stop….I'll find help somewhere else._

Troy. Troy obviously knew something, he acted so strange last night. I knew I could get him to let something slip as long as I played my cards right. I showered and put on new clothes, jeans and a t-shirt, then headed to Troy's dorm. It was right down the hall from mine and not a very long walk. I opened the door without knocking and found Troy still laying on his bed. I picked up a beanbag and threw it at him, "Wake up drowsy face-" He shot up in bed and swatted the beanbag aside like it was a hacky sack, his eyes were wide and alert and it startled me, then he saw me and his expression transformed to his normal happy go lucky smile.

"Oh, is it bro time already?" He says nonchalantly, as if he hadn't just deflected a projectile like a jedi.

"Um, yea...How did you?..." I point slowly to the beanbag.

"Oh." He looks at it like he wasn't sure how it got there, "I play handball in my spare time...Gives me quick reflexes." He smiles again.

"Yea...Ok...Handball…" I knew he was lying, and I knew he was having a hard time doing it, but I didn't press it, I had more important matters to press. "So...what do you want to do?"

"The usual?" He rolls out of his bed, picks up the beanbag and plops it in it's rightful place, in front of the TV.

"Shoot to the yea bro." I grabbed his desk chair and sat myself down in it while snatching a controller from the floor. It had been our tradition for a long time to play video games on Saturdays. We learned the hard way not to compete at all, (because we were too evenly matched and _one_ of us got kinda upset if he lost too much.) so we just play things together, screwing around and laughing, I was never lacking for a good time on a Saturday. This particular Saturday though I had things on my mind, questions that needed answering.

I waited for the opportune moment to spring a two sided question at him, he was in a heated battle and won by decapitating a poor orcs head off. He laughed gleefully and I interjected, "So, you never answered my question." I said this calmly and casually.

"What question?" His voice was distant because he was focused on slicing mythical creatures on the screen into little bite sized pieces.

"That blonde girl, you know who she is don't you?" I force my tone to stay casual and I hoped he wouldn't notice the strain it took.

"Not exactly...I mean I _do_ know she's-" He stopped abruptly, he even stopped playing the game.

"You DO know something, don't you hold out on me bro…What is she?" My tone turned into a triumphant one.

"Nothing, I don't know anything." Troy said this fast, and I don't think even he was convinced by his tone. "Never even seen her."

"You DO! You were about to say something I heard you…" I surprised myself with how pleadingly I said those words.

"Why do you care about this random girl so much? You've never cared about girls…" Troy was right, I was asking myself that same question, it kept me up more than that freaky dream.

"I….I don't know, and this isn't about _me_. You're holding out on me and I can tell, I just want to know what _you_ know about this random girl." I wasn't about to let him turn this on me, he was hiding something and I wanted to know what.

"Fine, I know she's blonde, you know why? Because you told me. I know she's skinny_ and_ I know she's recently picked up a stalker."

"It wasn't stalking...I just saw her by accident ok." Frustration is oozing from my voice.

"Well you could have fooled me, because you're sure obsessing over her like a stalker."

"I'm...I'm not obsessing, I'm...Just...You...UHG!" I had so many other questions in my head, about why this school didn't exist, about my dream, but I asked about _her_ and now I couldn't think straight.

"Seriously bro. If you want some advice, don't get your hopes up. She may have been a knock out, heck, she may have looked like the girl of your dreams, but in this school, you've got zero chance of even seeing her again, much less meeting her, much less something happening." Troy turned his attention back to the game and I got the feeling he was trying not to look at me.

"No...Bro…That's not what I…" I couldn't get my words out, my head felt like a tornado was going on inside, stirring my thoughts so fast I couldn't process them. I didn't have a crush on the girl, sure she was pretty but I had only seen her twice. It was just, she was so _different_ from every other girl I saw here, I wanted to know why. Troy was wrong though, I _had_ seen her again, but I wasn't going to tell him that. Something weird had started here, and this girl seemed to be linked somehow.

I had blown it with Troy, my questioning was on a one way non stop flight to nowhere, he had his guard up now. So, I went to plan B. "You're right...No use worrying... I just remembered, I've got a paper to write, so I'll have to head back early." I start to get up.

"Yea, that's cool." Troy paused, still pretending to be enthralled in the game, but I could tell he was playing much worse than before, "I have a thing I need to do anyway."

"One I'm never going to know about I assume…" I mutter as I walk towards the door. Troy paused like he didn't hear me.

"Bro." Troy's voice was the most solemn and serious I'd ever heard. It stopped me in my tracks and I turned. "You know I'd never keep anything from you, I trust you." He paused and studied his shoes, "But. You have to trust me, that if I ever do keep something from you, it's for your own good."

I was a shocked, he sounded so serious, like we were talking about life or death secrets and not just a girl. This only stoked my curiosity more, it burned in my gut and I_ had_ to know what was going on, but I just nodded at him slowly. "Alright bro…" It was hard for me think of a good reply, "Whatever you say…" He kept looking down, like he didn't dare look me in the eyes, I wanted to stand there and wait for him to, maybe he'd break and spill the beans. I instead turned and walked out the dorm.


	4. Chapter 4

**Jax:**

I didn't go back to my dorm, I didn't actually have a paper to write. I waited around the corner of the hall for Troy to come out. When he had acted weird on the phone he hung up on me, in a hurry to get rid of me, like he had to tell someone what I had just told him. I knew he'd need to go back to whoever this was, so I was going to follow him. Yea, I know, Troy had asked me to trust him and here I was doing the exact opposite. I ask you though to go through everything I went through and your best friend is obviously holding information back and see if you won't do the same.

I observed the other guys running back and forth down the halls, going to the gym or to practice sports while talking about supplements and maxing out. I suppressed the urge to yawn. Some of them were talking about a party that was happening tonight in the courtyard, one I had never heard of and wouldn't have wanted to go to even if I did. I was leaning against the wall trying my best to be inconspicuous so nobody would notice me just standing here for no reason. Then I realized how easy this was. At least fifty guys had passed me and they didn't even turn their heads to look at me. I know I was skinny and looked nothing like any of them, but shouldn't that make me stand out? Now that I started thinking about it, I realized I didn't remember speaking to any of my fellow students, or one even looking my way, or showing any signs of noticing my existence.

_What are the odds of that?_

_About as low as the odds of you not getting seen on this stupid spy mission._

_UHG! Just _shut up _already-_

Troy's dorm door opened. I zipped behind the corner of the hall and heard Troy close his door behind him. I peaked around the corner to see Troy walking in the opposite direction I thought he was going to go. He walked further down the hall instead of towards the stairs, which also happened to be towards the hallway I had ducked into. Panic shot through my whole body and I dove for the nearest classroom door, threw it open, and rushed inside. As I breathed hard trying to get my heart rate to decrease I slowly raised my head to peak out the window in the door.

Troy walked past and I had to stop myself from gasping when I saw his face. He looked extremely worried, concerned, his forehead creased, his eyebrows lowered, and his mouth made a straight line that curved down at the ends. I wasn't looking at my best friend, there was no boyish grin, no joyful smile. His blue eyes were heavy and they made him look so much older than he actually was. The sight startled me, I watched him walk all the way past and I was determined to keep following him, not for my sake anymore, but I had to know what was making my bro look that way. I know it had to do with me, and blondy. If I could find out what it was, maybe I could do something about it, so then Troy wouldn't have that secret on his shoulders anymore.

I opened the door slowly and peeked around the hall just in time to see Troy walk through another door at the very end of the hall, one I didn't even know existed. I made my way to this secret door on my tiptoes, I had to look at it really hard.

_Why the heck have I never noticed this before?_

I reached for the handle slowly, I had to put all my focus on the door, like my brain forgot it existed if I stopped thinking about it. Finally my fingers wrapped around the metal handle and my mind became sure that the door was real. I opened it quickly and hastened my pace through the short hall to another door. I opened the door at the other side just a crack and looked through. What greeted my eyes was a hallway identical to the one I just came from.

_This must be the girls side!_

My stomach leapt up in my chest and a hundred thoughts filled my head at once.

_How long did Troy know about this? Why was it so easy to get here? Why was the door invisible till I saw him go through it? Why would Troy need a way to the girls side? Gee, it's a lot cleaner than our side. _

Yea, my ADHD likes to kick in near the end of my thought trains. After my brain finally got back on the right track I noticed Troy standing at one of the doors in the hall, he knocked once and then peeked his head through and walked in. My body went on autopilot, I opened the hallway door all the way and stepped silently up to the door. My brain started to think about how many rules I was breaking but I pushed the thought from my mind.

_What if I'm seen by one of the girls? _That thought slipped through before I could put it all the way out. _What if it's blondy?_

I shook my head violently like the thought was a bug clinging to my brain that I had to shake loose. She had ruined too many of my thought trains today, right now I needed to focus on what was happening on the other side of this door.

"-is happening, I don't like it." I heard Troy say.

"You say he asked about her _again_?" A voice said, it was deeper and definitely came from an older man.

"Yes sir, I can't keep dodging his questions, he knows me too well and…..I don't like lying to him."

"I see…" There was an awkward silence that hung in the air before the older man spoke again, "I know you two have grown close this past year, but you know this is for their own good. There has to be a reason they were put here and protected for this long, they should have found their way to camp years ago but here they are…" He paused again, then made a deep, thoughtful sound in his throat, "But you are right, something /is/ happening here and I sense it's not good."

"He was able to get on the wall…" Troy said, "You said there was a barrer…"

"There is, but it's weakening, I can feel it, and I'm not the only one. They're both showing signs now, growing restless, he has finally started dreaming."

_They? Both? Is he talking about blondy too? And what camp? _

I shifted my weight but that caused me to brush against the door. I froze and apparently so did the rooms occupants. I felt the adrenaline rush into my bloodstream and straight to my legs, I didn't question my instincts, I ran. I didn't look back. I ran all the way back to my dorm and leaned against the door breathing heavily.

"Well…" I managed to say between gasps, "That was interesting…"

My head was spinning with thoughts again, questions multiplying into more questions which then mated and gave birth to little crying baby questions. I soon had enough question families to populate a small country and it would be called "Clueless-topia" because none of them had answers.

I groaned and slid down my door into a sitting position. This was too much to take in. My best friend keeping secrets from me, reporting to some mysterious deep voiced man who knows a lot about me _and_ blondy.

Blondy.

What was it about her? Why couldn't I keep her out of my head? I knew she had to be important, she was the key to what was happening around here, but how? Why? And why the heck did I care so much?

I banged my fist on the floor, this was way too frustrating. I had too many questions and every single thing that I tried to get answers just bred a new family for Clueless-topia. I hated being clueless.

I stood up and did my best to push everything out of my head. I tried playing some video games and that almost worked for a few hours, but then the thoughts and all the inhabitants of Clueless-topia came flooding back into my head. I sighed, turned my game off, plopped on my bed, and stared at the ceiling.

I heard the sounds of the guys partying in the courtyard. I thought I'd never say this, but for a second I wished I could be like them, carefree with only the next bench press to worry about. I had this nagging feeling I'd never be like them, and that my life was about to get even more complicated.

I closed my eyes and let my thoughts go free. I pulled the covers over me and rolled onto my side. The citizens of my question country all kept me company until I was finally able to tune them out and drift slowly to sleep.

I was dreaming again. This one started with me waking up in my dorm in the middle of the night, which was surprising normal, until I heard what had woken me up.

Yelling and screaming.

At first I thought the party outside had gotten really crazy, or maybe a fight had broken out. I looked at my clock, 2:00 AM, seriously? How long does it take to mingle, dance to overrated music, and play stupid party games?

I went to my window to see what it was all about and gasped. The first thing I noticed were the massive holes in the ground, the groundskeeper was not going to be happy about that. Then I saw what was coming out of the holes.

Men, well, they mostly looked like men. They had grey, translucent skin, cuts and gashes were clearly visible, their faces were horrifying, missing teeth and lifeless eyes. All of this was a little hard to spot under their viking armor, they wore breastplates with animal hides draped over them. Most of them were wearing those helmets with the horns on top.

"Oooook, Viking zombies, this is gonna be an interesting dream."

I flinched and did a double take when I noticed what the zombies were doing, they were grabbing all my classmates and dragging them into the holes they had made kicking and screaming. They were taking them back to where they came from, judging from the blood curdling screaming, I didn't want to find out where exactly that is.

My very first thought was, _Ha, look what good all those muscles and working out did for you._

I immediately regretted it, I may not like jocks but nobody here deserves to die, especially not like that. I noticed more holes being made, and even more zombies coming out. The reinforcements were making their way to the doors of the school, and I realized they were coming inside to look for more victims.

My heart jumped from zero to sixty in a split second. I grabbed my beating baton from my drawer and strapped it to my belt. If this was going to be a zombie movie dream I wanted to at least try to be the one that survives.

I burst into the hall, no zombies, yet. They must not have gotten in the school yet.

CRACK!

I heard the sound of the doors breaking open downstairs. Perfect timing. I rushed down the stairs, they had come in through the front doors, so if I could make it out a window or side door I'd be good.

_What about Troy?_

I grimaced, I had forgotten, he's such a sound sleeper he might still be up in his room. Right as I was about to turn back up the stairs I heard something that stopped me in my tracks.

"HHHRRRAAAA!"

The battle cry rolled through the empty halls and I turned and saw Troy burling down the hall with a sword almost as long as he is and about as wide as my jaw had dropped when I saw him.

I regained my cool and said, "Of _course_ you'd have a sword bigger than Texas."

He smiled the biggest smile I'd ever seen on him, "They make everything bigger there. I was just about to come and get you after I showed these undead freaks who's boss."

I smile, at least I had Troy in this dream and it didn't make it nearly as scary, "So...Attack of the Viking Zombies?"

Troy's smile got wider, which didn't seem possible, "Attack of the Viking Zombies 2 bro. The sequels are always better."

I laugh and extend my night stick as I see a horde of zombies cascade down the hall like tsunami, "Well, if we die at least we die together."

"That's the spirit! I thought you were gonna be a chicken…"

"No way," The ocean of undead flesh got closer, "Besides I'll probably wake up soon."

"What?" Troy's upbeat tone turned to one of utter confusion.

"Oh come on, it's obvious. Viking zombies, you with a giant sword, you won't get it though, you're part of the dream."

"Oh gods." Troy took his free hand and grabbed me by the shoulder, pushing me against the wall, "Bro…" His voice was dead serious, "This isn't a dream."


End file.
